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98 JOURNAL OF THE HELLENIC DIASPORA rings for their children. They bound gold rings with a piece of red silk thread around a small bunch of dry basil with roots. The silk thread and the roots, symbolizing strength and stability, were supposed to extend their qualities to marriage. They tied cotton and red-dyed wool to the dried basil. At the appropriate time, the mothers place the rings on a table next to a cross or on an icon taken down from the family shrine (iconostasi). It is interesting to note that this custom bears a striking similarity to rituals of supplication and appeasement observed in preChristian Greece. In antiquity, branches taken from an olive tree and draped with some wool were presented to a divinity or to a person of high authority and power, in exchange for the suppliant's safety and protection. It is likely that the modern Greek custom observed at Grevena on the engagement night functions on the same principle. Acting as suppliants for their children, the mothers place the union, symbolized by the rings, under the direct protection and safety of the church and religion represented by the cross and the icon. The twigs of basil used in the ritual may also be regarded as a means to further the protection. In Greek tradition, basil is often associated with rituals of purification and protection observed at home and by the church. For instance, in a effort to keep evil spirits away, the priest uses branches of dry or fresh basil to sprinkle holy water on people and their homes, as well as on livestock and crops in the fields." Similarly, home recipes for protection against the evil eye and magic often call for the use of basil leaves. Interestingly enough, in several wedding songs from various parts of Greece the bride and groom often referred to as sweet basil, as in the following songs from Thassos, quoted by Abbott (175) and from Serres. 1. The bridegroom is basil and our bride is cinnamon The bridegroom is basil and our bride sweet marjoram . • . 2. Bridegroom take care of our bride, our sweet basil Her fragrance is known to the East and West .. . 11The qualities with which the plant is invested may be due to its association with the Holy Cross. It is alleged that, in search for the cross on which Christ died in Golgotha, the Emperor Constantine and his mother Helena came upon a
Apotropaic Devices in Greek Wedding Rituals 99 Later that evening the fathers of the prospective couple would exchange the rings by placing them in each other's hand three times. After the exchange, the groom's father would place the ring on the finger of the bride's left hand, while the bride's father would place the ring on the finger of the groom's left hand. The ritual would conclude with the couple kissing everyone's hand, while they, in their turn, would present the couple with various gifts. The engagement ceremony thus completed marks the beginning of an open relationship between the two individuals, while making the agreement between the two families official. On the days that follow, friends and relatives visit the girl at her home to congratulate and praise her good fortune in finding a husband. Aware of the danger such praises may conceal, however, the individual is required to take certain precautions. For instance, on the island of Lesbos, the mother of the girl sweeps the floor or throws ashes or salt outside the main entrance after the wellwishers leave the house (Zourou, 111). The symbolism behind such a ritual act is that the potentially harmful praises would be swept away from the house and, by extension, from the daughter, or that they would melt like the salt or scatter in the wind like ashes. Here, too, the ritual is apparently based on the principle of homeopathic magic. Generally, weddings require careful planning, and in Greece, depending on the region, the preparations may last for an- entire week. On each day special activities are held and various customs are observed, often with the direct participation of relatives, friends, and neighbors. While many of these activities are filled with joy and playfulness appropriate for the occasion, there are others that reflect tension and anxiety, especially on the part of the bride and her mother. Such feelings often stem from fear and a real concern over the possibility that such a happy occasion might provoke envy and feelings of jealousy in less fortunate people. Therefore, a number of rites may be interpreted as prophylactic measures against the effects of the evil eye, binding spells, and other forms of aggressive magic. mount on which a basil plant grew. Overwhelmed by its sweet fragrance and believing it to be a god-sent sign, the Empress ordered the excavation of the site. The cross found buried there she declared to be the "true cross" of Christ.
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